Why publish with ALA Editions | ALA Neal-Schuman?
Our publications are promoted, translated, and distributed worldwide.
Your work is in the hands of seasoned professionals. We develop, manufacture, and market your project in a way that draws good reviews and customer interest.
Our authors are leaders in their fields, and their ideas are delivered in a growing range of print, digital, and interactive formats.
What kinds of publications are of interest?
- Coverage of ALA Editions | Neal-Schuman publications spans library type, providing insight and guidance on academic, public, school, and special libraries.
- We also publish books of cross-disciplinary interest on topics such as copyright, censorship, ethics, law, and sustainability and in overlapping disciplines, including information studies, archives, and records and information management.
- Our books are created for a wide range of audiences, including library and information professionals, faculty and students, researchers and scholars, archivists and other cultural heritage professionals, and library advocates. A strong proposal will describe content with clear, immediate, and unique value to one or more of these audiences and offer fresh perspectives.
- We are dedicated to acquiring and creating content that reflects the unique experiences and backgrounds of librarianship. We want readers, library staff, and patrons to feel empowered by the written word and reflected in the books and content that we publish. As you develop your proposal, consider how diversity and inclusion impact your topic.
Proposal Guidelines
The ideal proposal would contain the following elements, plus background attachments as necessary.
- 1. Project Description.
Provide a brief (300 words or less) overall description of the project, including its subject, scope, content, and approach. State what is distinctive and compelling about the project. If proposing a textbook, please also provide the course(s) for which your book would be a primary text. Or, if intended as a supplementary or recommended text, the types of courses it would support.
- 2. Intended Market.
Note who you are writing to (use job titles if possible) and why they need this work.
- 3. Authorship.
Include a one-paragraph biography describing the credentials of each of the authors/editors of the work, highlighting editing, writing, and other relevant experience. Also include a curriculum vitae/resume for each member of the author team.
- 4. Competition.
Compile brief notes on the major print and electronic resources that address your topic or a large part of it. Note the features that distinguish your project and give it a market advantage (for example, size, authority, timeliness, approach, or style).
Please list at least three distinctive and compelling features of your work and how they will benefit readers.
- 6. Preliminary Table of Contents or Main Topic Outline.
Provide an outline of the major topics or a detailed preliminary table of contents.
- 7. Length of Manuscript.
Note the projected length of the work in word count or double-spaced manuscript pages (at 275 words per double-spaced page). Also describe the type and approximate number of figures and/ or tables you plan to include.
- 8. Schedule for Completion.
Provide a timetable of the major phases of the project and a realistic date of project completion. Allow ample time for illustrations and materials borrowed with permission to be gathered, edited, revised, and reviewed.
- 9. Writing Sample.
Submit a sample chapter of the proposed work or an article representative of the writing style for the proposed work.
- 10. Special Considerations.
Note any copyrighted material that you plan to include e.g., illustrations, permissions, etc.
ALA Editions | ALA Neal-Schuman will also consider completed manuscripts, but please query before sending them. Send proposals and queries to the appropriate editor below and allow six-to-eight weeks for evaluation.
Contact the Editorial Team.
Send a proposal or pitch your idea to one of our editors. Proposals on broad topics can be sent to any editor.
- Rachel Chance
- Senior Acquisitions Editor
- LIS education, archives, special libraries
- Phone: 312-280-1548
- Patrick Hogan
- Senior Acquisitions Editor
- Academic libraries, Library Technology Reports
- Phone: 312-380-3240
- Jamie Santoro
- Senior Acquisitions Editor
- Public and school libraries
- Phone: 312-280-5107
Purchases of ALA Editions | ALA Neal-Schuman products fund advocacy, awareness, and accreditation programs for library and information professionals worldwide.
ALA Editions | ALA Neal-Schuman
American Library Association
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Chicago, IL 60601
- Fax: 312-280-5275